Turns out that music really is intoxicating, after all

Our reaction to the music that we love stimulates the flow of dopamine into …

An "outburst of the soul," the composer Frederick Delius called music. The sounds associated with the form produce "a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without," observed Confucius. It is the art "which is most nigh to tears and memory," noted the writer Oscar Wilde.

It turns out that these guys were more on target than we thought. Our experience of the music we love stimulates the pleasure chemical dopamine in our brain, concludes a new study produced by a slew of scholars at McGill University. The researchers followed the brain patterns of test subjects with MRI imaging, and identified dopamine streaming into the striatum region of their forebrains "at peak emotional arousal during music listening."

Not only that, but the scientists noticed that various parts of the striatum responded to the dopamine rush differently. The caudate was more involved during the expectation of some really nice musical excerpt, and the nucleus accumbens took the lead during "the experience of peak emotional responses to music."

In other words, just the anticipation our favorite passage stimulates the production of dopamine. "Our results help to explain why music is of such high value across all human societies," the writers conclude.

Chills and thrills

To learn more about the music/brain/stimulation process, the McGill researchers followed subjects through the 'chills' or 'musical frisson' response moment. You may have thought that chills were just a subjective concept, but that isn't the case. They involve a "clear and discrete pattern of autonomic nervous system (ANS) arousal," the experimenters say, which facilitate "objective verification through psychophysiological measurements."

Bottom line: the chills moment "can be used to objectively index pleasure." So these scientists rounded up a cohort of people who had a proven record of getting the "verifiable chills" when listening to their favorite songs.

It took a while to find these folks. 217 people responded to an advertisement looking for chill-susceptible music lovers. Each candidate provided ten pieces of instrumental music that set them off in some way. The genres included tango, techno, punk, rock, electronica, jazz, folk, and classical. They then filled out a questionnaire designed to make sure their chills were authentic, and went through a mental illness screening session.

Degrees of pleasure

The process produced a cohort of 10 subjects for the actual experiment, who were scanned over two sessions. The participants listened to music that they experienced as pleasurable or to which they felt neutral. They also kept track of their chills themselves, including the "number of chills, intensity of chills and degree of pleasure experienced from each excerpt."

<em>Nature neuroscience</em>

Meanwhile these frisson seekers were MRI scanned during the listening experience, and images that correlated with chill laden moments were examined.

"We found that hemodynamic activity in the regions showing dopamine release was not constant throughout the [musical] excerpt, but was restricted to moments before and during chills and, critically, was anatomically distinct," the researchers note.

The McGill group says that this experiment is "the first direct evidence that the intense pleasure experienced when listening to music is associated with dopamine activity in the mesolimbic reward system, including both dorsal and ventral striatum."

If music-induced emotional states can lead to dopamine release, as our findings indicate, it may begin to explain why musical experiences are so valued. These results further speak to why music can be effectively used in rituals, marketing or film to manipulate hedonic states. Our findings provide neurochemical evidence that intense emotional responses to music involve ancient reward circuitry and serve as a starting point for more detailed investigations of the biological substrates that underlie abstract forms of pleasure.

It also may explain why, as Oscar Wilde suggested, we experience bursts of pleasant recollection while listening to the music that we enjoy. As studies of nicotine use show, the cigarette induced release of dopamine stimulates the remembrance of things past.

36 Reader Comments

I think I'm one of the lucky few. I can induce those chills whenever I want when listening to my favorite music. Especially while walking. Every ten seconds or so as often as I want. Its like I found a cheatcode in life. I've been trying to share it with everyone since

Edit: they start out from behind the ears and run down my spine, as a 'warm' chill.

I also am a lucky music listener. I like many different kinds of music, rock, alt-rock, classical, electronic, trance, yes even polkas! (Mom plays the accordion so I heard that growing up.) I still remember, and can feel the chill from, hearing a live orchestra as opposed to recordings. Wow what a difference.

I guess it's not surprising. Pleasant stimulation of the senses creates pleasure, right? It's the sound of music, the sight of a sunrise, the scent of roses, the taste of strawberries, the touch of a loved one. Wouldn't they all elicit the same kind of dopamine response?

I guess it's not surprising. Pleasant stimulation of the senses creates pleasure, right? It's the sound of music, the sight of a sunrise, the scent of roses, the taste of strawberries, the touch of a loved one. Wouldn't they all elicit the same kind of dopamine response?

Actually, no. I get pleasure if something tastes good, but same as everyone else. And obviously touch, when it comes due to sexual pleasure.

I may not know the science behind it, but I do know how I feel when I listen to the music I love. I listen to music all the time and while doing things like homework and studying.

What I would find to be a very interesting article is what causes us to like what we like. I know it's about what we're exposed to, but I mean on the neurological level. I grew up more around my dad since my mom worked full time and he only listened to country. Everyone else in the family likes country, so what makes me detest it? I much prefer the various forms of rock and electronica. What causes that?

I think I'm one of the lucky few. I can induce those chills whenever I want when listening to my favorite music. Especially while walking. Every ten seconds or so as often as I want. Its like I found a cheatcode in life. I've been trying to share it with everyone since

Edit: they start out from behind the ears and run down my spine, as a 'warm' chill.

That's awesome! I'm a huge music fan, but the only time I ever get chills is when I hear a particularly good singer hitting some difficult notes during a live performance. It really doesn't make a difference if it's live in person or live on TV, but it's unpredictable when it might happen.

In my case, it starts from the back/shoulders and out to the arms, usually involving goosebumps on my arms and a feeling similar to when I get the shivers from the cold. I wish I could produce that effect on-demand like you do.

imho music is a cheat in our brain structure. you have paths of neurons leading to brain parts which make pelasure and music can somehow stimulate it.everybody has little different structure of these paths and neuron settings - so everybody likes different music.

or it's just a prediction game, we like music when we can predict what's next, also lyrics which are predictive (rhymes)..

I think I'm one of the lucky few. I can induce those chills whenever I want when listening to my favorite music. Especially while walking. Every ten seconds or so as often as I want. Its like I found a cheatcode in life. I've been trying to share it with everyone since

Edit: they start out from behind the ears and run down my spine, as a 'warm' chill.

That's awesome! I'm a huge music fan, but the only time I ever get chills is when I hear a particularly good singer hitting some difficult notes during a live performance. It really doesn't make a difference if it's live in person or live on TV, but it's unpredictable when it might happen.

In my case, it starts from the back/shoulders and out to the arms, usually involving goosebumps on my arms and a feeling similar to when I get the shivers from the cold. I wish I could produce that effect on-demand like you do.

Here's how I do it, let me know if it works for you:

1. Put on favorite music while walking2. Put on a smile, even if its fake3. Take a deep breath (all while walking). Let the fake smile sink in4. On the exhale, let the smile out. At this point, for me, the smile comes out as real and comes with the accompanying chills.

There was a study a short while back (on a ars?) that associated mood and facial expression and that it's not a one way thing, its a feedback loop. That's part of itGood luck!

I may not know the science behind it, but I do know how I feel when I listen to the music I love. I listen to music all the time and while doing things like homework and studying.

What I would find to be a very interesting article is what causes us to like what we like. I know it's about what we're exposed to, but I mean on the neurological level. I grew up more around my dad since my mom worked full time and he only listened to country. Everyone else in the family likes country, so what makes me detest it? I much prefer the various forms of rock and electronica. What causes that?

Wow i thought i was just wierd, this usually effects me when I'm at live gig, you know that one moment where every single person there just kinda... gets hit by that feeling and you know your not the only one. It's the most magical feeling in the world, no wonder why i spend all my money on going to shows!

I just want to agree to this point made by Sonan, how can one piece of music do the opposite? If i hear music that i don't like etc, it annoys me in a serious way!

imho music is a cheat in our brain structure. you have paths of neurons leading to brain parts which make pelasure and music can somehow stimulate it.everybody has little different structure of these paths and neuron settings - so everybody likes different music.

or it's just a prediction game, we like music when we can predict what's next, also lyrics which are predictive (rhymes)..

One of the interesting aspects is that our brains can predict music without our thinking about it, but it's the times our brain gets surprised by a change in melody or pitch that it wasn't expecting that can often give us the most positive responses.

I think I'm one of the lucky few. I can induce those chills whenever I want when listening to my favorite music. Especially while walking. Every ten seconds or so as often as I want. Its like I found a cheatcode in life. I've been trying to share it with everyone since

Edit: they start out from behind the ears and run down my spine, as a 'warm' chill.

That's awesome! I'm a huge music fan, but the only time I ever get chills is when I hear a particularly good singer hitting some difficult notes during a live performance. It really doesn't make a difference if it's live in person or live on TV, but it's unpredictable when it might happen.

In my case, it starts from the back/shoulders and out to the arms, usually involving goosebumps on my arms and a feeling similar to when I get the shivers from the cold. I wish I could produce that effect on-demand like you do.

Here's how I do it, let me know if it works for you:

1. Put on favorite music while walking2. Put on a smile, even if its fake3. Take a deep breath (all while walking). Let the fake smile sink in4. On the exhale, let the smile out. At this point, for me, the smile comes out as real and comes with the accompanying chills.

There was a study a short while back (on a ars?) that associated mood and facial expression and that it's not a one way thing, its a feedback loop. That's part of itGood luck!

At the risk of looking like an idiot at work with a big smile on face, I may have to try this later at home, hahah.

I think I'm one of the lucky few. I can induce those chills whenever I want when listening to my favorite music. Especially while walking. Every ten seconds or so as often as I want. Its like I found a cheatcode in life. I've been trying to share it with everyone since

Edit: they start out from behind the ears and run down my spine, as a 'warm' chill.

That's awesome! I'm a huge music fan, but the only time I ever get chills is when I hear a particularly good singer hitting some difficult notes during a live performance. It really doesn't make a difference if it's live in person or live on TV, but it's unpredictable when it might happen.

In my case, it starts from the back/shoulders and out to the arms, usually involving goosebumps on my arms and a feeling similar to when I get the shivers from the cold. I wish I could produce that effect on-demand like you do.

Here's how I do it, let me know if it works for you:

1. Put on favorite music while walking2. Put on a smile, even if its fake3. Take a deep breath (all while walking). Let the fake smile sink in4. On the exhale, let the smile out. At this point, for me, the smile comes out as real and comes with the accompanying chills.

There was a study a short while back (on a ars?) that associated mood and facial expression and that it's not a one way thing, its a feedback loop. That's part of itGood luck!

At the risk of looking like an idiot at work with a big smile on face, I may have to try this later at home, hahah.

"If music-induced emotional states can lead to dopamine release, as our findings indicate, it may begin to explain why musical experiences are so valued."

No this doesn't at all explain anything. If someone reports that they like music, then we can safely assume they like music. The idea that we can observe some process going on in the brain at the same time and pretend that we now have an explanation or indeed know anything more than we did is idiotic. Of course something is going on in the brain whenever someone thinks or feels anything. The brain is the engine behind thoughts and feelings.

In my case there is also the evocative power at play. One note, one chord and zap! I find myself travelling through time and space; it's 40 years ago, I'm in front of my Yamaha receiver in my room... I can even smell my girlfriend's shampoo. And the chills, of course.

Yes, music is an amazing gift. But, like another poster, I often wonder what makes us like what we enjoy and why others may not share the same feelings. Is it mostly genetic or environmental?I notice when I'm listening to my music, I want to listen without interruption and I get irritated when someone is trying to talk to me while I'm listening to a favorite, especially when it's during that special note or chill moment. It also irritates me when he/she tries to "sing along" with it.

On the other hand, I notice other people listening to their "favorites" and singing along merrily, which I find puzzling. I have songs that I may sing along, but they wouldn't be my favorites. My favorites require absolute quite and concentration to extract everything out of it.

So... is this limited to H.sapiens? I'd be curious if rats or bonobos show preference for music, similar dopamine release, or activation of the similar neurological pathways. If it's totally a hominoid feature, then it must have evolved relatively recently, which would be awfully surprising given the generalized nature of mammalian brain "reward centers".

ocamsrazor wrote:

Quite how this bullshit gets consistently published is utterly beyond me. People who deny natural selection are smarter than these clowns.

Um, no. I'd be surprised if a creationist even trusted MRI, considering they don't seem to trust Mass Spec or other methods used in radiocarbon dating (well, the YECs anyway). Did you miss the part where the article mentioned the caudate and the nucleus accumbens? The researchers here have narrowed down fairly specific behaviors (expectation of music) to fairly specific physiology.

Just FYI, they don't do that to be jerks. Conditions like autism or mood disorders can be pretty broad-spectrum and affect the results in unpredictable ways. Including subjects with mental illness would make the research much, much harder and messier. It would certainly be interesting to know how, say, schizophrenic brains respond to music, but they can't really investigate that until they know what's "normal".

Quote:

I often wonder what makes us like what we enjoy and why others may not share the same feelings. Is it mostly genetic or environmental?

That's a great question! Hopefully someone will follow up this work with proper genome scans, linkage analysis, and twin studies to find out. Maybe the "chill" effect is 20% genetic? Maybe it's 100% genetic? Maybe it could have been a factor in diverging hominid populations? Can't say till it's narrowed down

Oh bliss! Bliss and heaven! Oh, it was gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh. It was like a bird of rarest-spun heaven metal or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now. As I slooshied, I knew such lovely pictures!

It would be interesting to see a follow up study in which they compared results of those getting chills while listening to lyrical music and/or poetry. I would be curious to see if there are any links between this response to purely instrumental music and parts of the brain involved in language.

I think I'm one of the lucky few. I can induce those chills whenever I want when listening to my favorite music. Especially while walking. Every ten seconds or so as often as I want. Its like I found a cheatcode in life. I've been trying to share it with everyone since

Edit: they start out from behind the ears and run down my spine, as a 'warm' chill.

i'm glad to see i'm not the only one actively hacking my own neural net for pleasure responses.

Just FYI, they don't do that to be jerks. Conditions like autism or mood disorders can be pretty broad-spectrum and affect the results in unpredictable ways. Including subjects with mental illness would make the research much, much harder and messier. It would certainly be interesting to know how, say, schizophrenic brains respond to music, but they can't really investigate that until they know what's "normal".

I'm definitely one of the lucky ones. I've experienced many "eargasms" from particularly good music. I also get high by playing games like Rez and Beatmania, which is WAY better than any drug I've ever tried. And some of the music I make is something that I feel like I pull right out of my soul.

@Tofystedeth: I can't forget synesthesia. I wrote a big paper on it for a class, plus my girlfriend and I both have mild cases of the grapheme->color subset of it (she also gets pain->color sometimes) I just don't bring it up much because then I usually have to explain it, lol

But yeah that's a ripe area for study. They could probably learn a whole lot about the neural wiring for music by fMRI-ing synesthetes!

I'm definitely one of the lucky ones. I've experienced many "eargasms" from particularly good music.

I read you, buddy.

I used to spin vinyls in the early eighties at the local meat market/watering hole. Gigs like an uninterrupted jukebox rather than animated-MC-scratching contests. The goal was to mix "disco style" on the beat with anything that went through your mind to bedazzle the amused crowd. Overlapping stuff like U2, The Police, Foreigner, The Beatles with James Brown, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Rod Stewart, you get the idea.

On one particularily-inspired evening, after a rapid-fire string of hits, I snuck in an old classic that nobody expected. Right on the button.

The effect was immediate and totally new: I started sobbing. I couldn't handle It. Bif fat salty tears were rolling down my cheeks. I can only describe the emotion with one word: Bliss. I could hardly stop crying tears of joy. I had only minutes to get a hold of myself and carry on, but I would give a lot, a lot of stuff to relive those minutes today.

I guess it qualifies for your splendid term, an Eargasm. Thanks for reminding me.

I'm definitely one of the lucky ones. I've experienced many "eargasms" from particularly good music.

I read you, buddy.

I used to spin vinyls in the early eighties at the local meat market/watering hole. Gigs like an uninterrupted jukebox rather than animated-MC-scratching contests. The goal was to mix "disco style" on the beat with anything that went through your mind to bedazzle the amused crowd. Overlapping stuff like U2, The Police, Foreigner, The Beatles with James Brown, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Rod Stewart, you get the idea.

On one particularily-inspired evening, after a rapid-fire string of hits, I snuck in an old classic that nobody expected. Right on the button.

The effect was immediate and totally new: I started sobbing. I couldn't handle It. Bif fat salty tears were rolling down my cheeks. I can only describe the emotion with one word: Bliss. I could hardly stop crying tears of joy. I had only minutes to get a hold of myself and carry on, but I would give a lot, a lot of stuff to relive those minutes today.

I guess it qualifies for your splendid term, an Eargasm. Thanks for reminding me.

Anna and the V aliens will be marking us all out as the first ones to get the Bliss mind control.

I don't know about 'chills', definitely more of a frisson for me, but listening to some songs is the closest thing I've had to what some may call a 'religious experience' (though I have had one in a Christian concert too that I don't ascribe solely to the music). Objectively, 'Hell Hath No Fury' by Klute isn't great, with its piano lead being a bit samey for 7 minutes, but the drum sequences just keep going and won't let me go. Similarly, Toy Town by Logistics doesn't drop until about 90s in, but when it comes it's pretty awesome. And I seem to 'need' DnB beats every-so-often - and the quality doesn't immediately matter if it's been a while.

As for synaesthesia, the only song I can 'see' is Space Shanty by Leftfield, but I think that's more a case of being influenced by seeing a few C64/Amiga demos in my youth. Anyway, I imagine dancing, spinning polygons and that's largely what was projected on the screen when I saw the band live last year (glad I went but the sound setup was awful)

"In other words, just the anticipation our favorite passage stimulates the production of dopamine."... also helps explain that once you're anticipating that passage, the sudden cutting off of the music for whatever reason is almost worse than coitus interruptus. Almost.

When I'm coding at work, music is big help to focus my mind and drown out the distracting chit-chat and other noises. I get tapped on the shoulder during a favorite song, and I'm really not fond of the interruption.

"In other words, just the anticipation our favorite passage stimulates the production of dopamine."... also helps explain that once you're anticipating that passage, the sudden cutting off of the music for whatever reason is almost worse than coitus interruptus. Almost.

I know what you mean. When I listen to music on shuffle and the song that comes next isn't the one I'm used to, it's disconcerting. I start to hear it before it plays, but then it's wrong.

Proof positive that audiophiles are junkies. It completely explains those individuals I have encountered who cannot seem to do anything with out earphones in, or blasting music at damaging volumes. Take their drug away and they sing (badly), whistle (even worse), or otherwise disturb the peace until you give them back their audiophonic crack pipe.

Link copied. I now have scientific evidence to treat them like the meth addicts their behaviour resembles.

This does not surprise me at all. I have been telling people for years that there are some times while listening to the Grateful Dead that I hear something so amazing and beautiful I get a rush in my brain that goes throughout my entire body. Its an overwhelming tingling sensation. I know this sounds crazy, but it happens, and for a few seconds I really do feel "high". There is no other way to explain it, and there is no other band that has such a dramatic effect on me. I suspect most "dead heads" feel the same way...

Matthew Lasar / Matt writes for Ars Technica about media/technology history, intellectual property, the FCC, or the Internet in general. He teaches United States history and politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz.